Several stronger storms will impact the region Thursday through Sunday. The first system will bring strong southerly winds and moderate to locally heavy rainfall and heavy snow in the Mount Shasta area above 5000 feet. Strong winds could make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. 3 to 5 inches of rain is expected for many locations west of the Cascades through Thursday, with more than 10 inches expected by Sunday morning in some areas. This will increase flooding potential by the end of the week. Remember, if you come to a flooded roadway, turn around...don't drown. Please see your latest local hazards and the Flood Watches for further details.

US National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area/Monterey California

Another Pacific Storm is expected to produce more significant rainfall across the area by late Thursday and into Friday. Rain will move into the North Bay first and push south through the evening and overnight. Rain of 1-3 inches in the Bay area South with 2-4 inches north is expected with high terrain seeing up to 6 inches. Small creeks and streams are expected to begin flooding and flooding of roadways in urban areas and poorly drained locations is possible. Clogged storm drains will make urban flooding issues worse. Winds will increase and become gusty again across the area especially near the coast and in higher elevations. High surf will impact the coastline especially for the North Bay coast.

The first storm in a parade of storms made its way through Northern California Wednesday. As expected, the storm brought areas of heavy rain and widespread moderate rain mainly north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Here are some Wednesday rainfall amounts for the hills north of San Francisco. These areas are normally the wettest for storms like what was experienced on Wednesday.

Now, I know what you are thinking. When you look at those rainfall numbers, they don't seem all that impressive. There is a lesson that can be learned from looking at these rainfall amounts. When a parade of storms like what the West Coast is experiencing sets up, the first of these storms often ends up being weaker than what the models had predicted. Arguably, this case could be made for the storm that moved through Northern California Wednesday. But, this shouldn't be the lesson for the rest of the parade. Often, this first storm primes the atmosphere with moisture that the subsequent storms could utilize bring very heavy rain to the state. This appears to be the case for the next two storms.

Second Storm Poised To Strike

A second storm out in the Pacific Ocean is set to move gradually closer to the coast Thursday, but California will largely experience a brief break from the wet conditions for much of Thursday. The second storm will be stronger than the first, washing onto the north coast of California in the afternoon and evening.

The severe weather map paints a story of what to expect in California.

Winter Weather Warnings are posted for the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas as as much as 30 inches of snow is expected to fall to Friday afternoon for elevations higher than 6,000 feet. This is a fairly high elevation for snow level for the Sierras for a storm during this time of year.

Also, Flood Watches are posted for some rivers in Northern California. One of these rivers is the Navarro River, which currently has a stage of 2.9 feet. Here is what is impressive. The flood stage for the Navarro River at Navarro is 23.0 feet. That means that it is currently 20 FEET below flood stage, yet the NWS has determined that it is prudent to issue a Flood Watch for the river. Further, flood stage may be reached by Friday morning and the river could hit 26 feet by midday Friday. So between Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, the river is expected to rise as much as 23 feet. That is a tremendous amount of water.

This is the HPC precipitation forecast for the second storm. You can see a bulls eye of rain along the western slopes of the Sierras. The third storm over weekend is expected to be even stronger. [link to www.wunderground.com]

* Flood Watch for the Navarro river at Navarro.* From Friday morning to Friday evening... or until the watch is cancelled.* At 3:15 PM Wednesday the stage was 2.9 feet.* Minor flooding is possible.* Flood stage is 23.0 feet.* Forecast... flood stage may be reached by Friday morning.* This river is expected to rise above flood stage of 23 ft Friday morning then forecast to crest near 26 ft near noon Friday then forecast to fall below flood stage of 23 ft Friday evening.* Impacts... if the river reaches or exceeds 23 feet... flooding of Highway 128 approximately 5 miles from Highway 1 will occur.

Amazingly, according to NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), a strong atmospheric river can transport as water vapor up to 15 times the average flow of liquid water at the mouth of the Mississippi River!

Beginning Thursday, the upper-level pattern will begin to tap into an atmospheric river of moisture extending from just north and west of Hawaii to the West Coast.

On the coast here in Del Norte county and its pouring. The internet is going on and off. Its 6 a.m.

Quoting: Reddwolf

As you're in the region where the Patterson (Bigfoot) Film was shot in 1967, what are your feelings about Bigfoot? Have you seen anything peculiar? Have you heard stories from others in the area about Bigfoot?

Do you have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand? JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY WAY to SALVATION, DELIVERANCE and PEACE! Soon his grace will be taken from the earth and his WRATH will be poured out. Accept JESUS CHRIST while the GRACE of GOD is still available. May the Peace of God be with you! Love, Pray, Repent and Forgive.

The Bay Area storm, dubbed round No. 1, made its way out of the region by lunch on Wednesday and wasn't as bad as many had predicted.

Thursday's storm is a traditional north to south weather system with rain starting north of the Golden Gate and moving south. The next system has more moisture content with as much as two to four inches of rain falling.

Many are concerned about potential flooding in the North Bay and in the Santa Cruz mountains now that the ground is already wet and there is more rain the forecast.

The San Anselmo creeks and rivers are among those at risk, so the city is handing out free sandbags so residents can prepare for the wet weather.

And that won't be the last storm of the week. Storm No. 3 is expected to arrive Saturday. It will bring hit and miss showers at best.

A last storm of the series is the biggest of them all. It is expected to arrive Sunday. NBC Bay Area meteorologist Anthony Slaughter describes it as the mother ship arriving at port. Slaughter says the "mother ship" is a system that is sitting off the coast and has been spitting out the rest of the storms. That mega-system will move itself on in come Sunday.

It has the most moisture of all of the systems and could bring yet another three to five inches.

I've lived here 35 years. Getting 10 to 20 inches of rain with high winds over several days is not unusual.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28637798

I beg to differ - this is not something that happens every winter. And you know it.

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1321115

They said it is "not unusual", they didn't say it happens every winter.

I live in Sacramento and we get wicked rain through here from time to time. This storm is not unusual. A few years ago we had so much rain the levees on the Sacramento river were only a few feet from overtopping. www.water.ca.gov/newsroom/docs/WeirsReliefStructures.pdf

My concern is that the levees could be sabotaged under cloak of "extreme rain". For years the State government has been nattering about the levee system and the possibility of flooding. They want federal dollars to rebuild it (i.e., California is broke and wants a handout from the feds.) The fact is, the levee on the west side of the river protects farmland and is the weaker of the two sides. So any "normal" levee break would flood farmlands, not the city. If the city side of the Sacramento River gets a levee break, I would consider that extremely suspicious.